DATE=8/14/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=U.S. - RUSSIAN SUB (L)
NUMBER=2-265462
BYLINE=DAVID GOLLUST
DATELINE=LOS ANGELES
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: President Clinton has been briefed on the
plight of the sunken Russian submarine, and the United
States is offering Russia help in the recovery effort.
U-S officials say there's no indication an American
navy vessel collided with the Russian sub. VOA's David
Gollust reports from Los Angeles where Mr. Clinton is
attending the Democratic national convention.
TEXT: The President was briefed on the situation with
the submarine, following a telephone conversation
between White House National Security Adviser Sandy
Berger and the Secretary of the Russian Security
Council, Sergei Ivanov.
Clinton spokesman Joe Lockhart says Moscow has been
told the United States is prepared to render any help
it can in the recovery effort, but thus far there has
been no such Russian request:
/// LOCKHART ACTUALITY ///
We through various channels have made clear to
the Russians that any assistance we can offer is
available. That offer was reiterated in a
previously-scheduled phone call Mr. Berger had
with his counterpart Mr. Ivanov. And at this
point, there's been no request for our
assistance. We are following this closely and
if the Russians are in position where they
believe we can offer some assistance, we will
do that.
/// END ACT ///
Both Mr. Lockhart and officials at the Pentagon say
there is no information to suggest that a U-S
submarine or surface vessel had been involved in a
collision with the Russian submarine.
U-S navy ships routinely monitor Russian naval
exercises, and defense officials say an American
electronic surveillance ship was operating in or near
the Barents sea at the time of the incident - though
they say it was far from the area where the submarine
went down.
It is unclear - as a practical matter - what kind of
help the U-S navy could render in this case.
The navy has a deep-diving rescue vessel designed to
bring the crew of a sunken U-S or allied submarine to
the surface - even from depths far below the level
where the disabled Russian submarine is reported to be
resting.
However the system has never been used in an actual
rescue situation, and U-S officials say they are
unsure whether the hatches of the American undersea
vehicle would be compatible with those of a Russian
submarine.
The system was developed after a U-S nuclear submarine
- the Thesher - sank in the North Atlantic in 1963
with the loss of all 129 crewmen aboard. (Signed)
NEB/DAG/TVM/KBK
14-Aug-2000 18:21 PM EDT (14-Aug-2000 2221 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.